Decision makers

Tell Bank of America: Reject Anti-Gay Bigotry

The North Carolina legislature has passed an anti-gay constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in the state constitution. The measure will now go to a referendum before voters in May 2012. Same-sex couples in North Carolina are already prohibited under state law from marrying or obtaining a civil union, so the proposed amendment would actually go one step further and enshrine this institutionalized discrimination into the very document designed to protect and expand minority rights.

We are calling on the following leading companies based in North Carolina that have adopted non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation to honor the spirit of non-discrimination by speaking up against this anti-gay bigotry and publicly opposing the institutionalization of intolerance in the state constitution.

As one of your customers, I am asking you, the leader of a business based in North Carolina, and an influential voice in your state, to publicly oppose attempts to write anti-gay discrimination into the North Carolina constitution. As a company who has adopted a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation, you have taken a step to demonstrate that you are committed to the fair and equitable treatment of your employees. Please honor the spirit of that commitment by opposing the anti-gay amendment that will come before voters in May 2012.

Rev. Dr. T Anthony Spearman, pastor of the Clinton Tabernacle AME Zion Church in Hickory, said it best recently at a press conference opposing the anti-gay amendment: “The anti-gay amendment is bad business. It impedes on the rights of businesses to provide competitive employee benefits and sends a message to major employers that the state of North Carolina does not welcome a diverse workplace.” Indeed, research has shown that this has been the case in many of the states that have passed marriage amendments.

Placing the rights of a minority up for a popular vote simply to enshrine discrimination they already face is morally wrong. It is bad for your employees, and will harm your company’s continued competitiveness. Please speak out forcefully against this anti-gay amendment.